FOR residents at Inveresk, their gardens are a labour of love they are keen to share with the public, while raising cash for charity at the same time.

Visitors to the historic village are invited to visit six gardens under Scotland’s Gardens scheme next Sunday (June 19), from 2pm to 5pm.

The event, held every two years, has grown in size, with more gardens – including the much-sought-after local allotments – on offer, as well as other attractions aimed at the whole family.

At Shepherd House, listed as one of the top 10 best small gardens in Scotland, there will be a sale of plants and used tools.

Cream teas will be served at The Green House, an award-winning modern eco home owned by Robin and Lindsay Burley, centred around an 18th-century kitchen garden with its own well, which filters into a large pond.

A calendar of village scenes painted in watercolours by Musselburgh artist Esther Tacke will be sold to support Inveresk Lodge Garden. The property is managed by the National Trust for Scotland but formerly owned by the Brunton family of the Musselburgh wire mill.

Live folk music will add to the atmosphere at Inveresk Lodge Garden, where croquet on the lawn and children’s games can also be enjoyed.

St Michael’s Church will be also open for tours.

Inveresk resident Alison Paterson will also be selling scarves that she has made herself out of silk and merino wool to raise funds for a charity close to her heart – Freedom from Torture, a charity which works with a centre in Glasgow to help survivors of torture and organised violence.

Cash raised at the open afternoon will go towards Scotland’s Gardens beneficiaries and Horatio’s Garden – a charity that creates and cares for beautiful accessible gardens in NHS spinal injury centres. Horatio’s Garden is named after Horatio Chapple, who was a volunteer at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre, Salisbury, in his school holidays.

Horatio and his father David Chapple – a spinal surgeon at Salisbury Hospital – came up with the idea for a garden and Horatio drew up a questionnaire to find out what the patients wanted.

Tragically, Horatio was killed at the age of 17 by a polar bear. There followed an outpouring of love and goodwill, and donations flooded in for his garden to be created.

The open afternoon at Inveresk is the end result of a lot of organising by local people, including Ian Orr, treasurer John Manning, and catering coordinators Alison Butler and Isabel Orr, Ian’s wife, who would welcome help from volunteers and home baking on the day.

George Burnet, a retired lawyer, is opening up the garden at his historic house Rose Court, which boasts a big copper beech tree and ancient yew; he said: “My wife and I love gardening. We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to our garden.”

Mr Burley said that his eco house, which is characterised by its glass doors and sedum roof, was built in part of a kitchen garden dating back to 1830. In a mixture of gold and modern, the garden still has its original sundial made of Musselburgh stone. The couple have also transformed an old doocot, built in 1700, into accommodation. Mr Burley said: “We took the overall shape of the garden and built the house so it is laid on top of the pattern that was there. The pattern was perimeter path and a sundial in the centre. The design of the paths on flagstones actually go through the house, so when the doors are open you can actually walk through the garden as you did in 1830. We kept the orchard, have fruit bushes and are planting vegetables in raised beds.”